Swiss National Bank Acquires 1,900 Shares of Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC)

Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Simmons First National Co. (NASDAQ:SFNC) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 246,986 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Simmons First National were worth $5,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Simmons First National by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,778 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Simmons First National by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 12,581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Simmons First National by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Simmons First National by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 120,421 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens lowered their target price on Simmons First National from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Simmons First National Trading Down 0.5 %

SFNC stock opened at $20.39 on Monday. Simmons First National Co. has a 52 week low of $16.03 and a 52 week high of $25.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Simmons First National had a net margin of 10.46% and a return on equity of 5.10%. The firm had revenue of $208.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $208.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Simmons First National Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Simmons First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.2125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Simmons First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. Simmons First National’s payout ratio is currently 70.25%.

Simmons First National Profile

Simmons First National Corporation operates as the holding company for Simmons Bank that provides banking and other financial products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers checking, savings, and time deposits; consumer, real estate, and commercial loans; agricultural finance, equipment, and small business administration lending; trust and fiduciary services; credit cards; investment management products; treasury management; insurance products; and securities and investment services.